Most people believe we need to give all our young people a good start in life, and apprenticeships are a great way to achieve that. Apprenticeships and other forms of vocational education offer a clear path to a successful career for thousands of people but many more are being left behind by a government that takes an indifferent attitude towards them, especially towards young people.
Apprenticeships are of enormous benefit, not only for each apprentice but also for the businesses training them. They can fill a skills gap and allow businesses the opportunity to tailor their workforce around their specific needs, as well as offering real returns to their bottom line through increased productivity and competitiveness.
And for apprentices there is the opportunity to learn on the job, building up knowledge and skills, gaining qualifications and earning money all at the same time. They will also gain excellent prospects for the future because they will have the knowledge and experience that employers really value.
But the Tory-led government isn’t doing enough to create more quality apprenticeships for young people. When we were in office, Labour revitalised the apprenticeship programme – boosting apprenticeship starts from 65,000 when we took office in 1997 to 279,700 in our final year in government.
Under the Tories, almost one million young people are now unemployed and the number out of work for more than 12 months has doubled in the last year. In the developed world, only Greece and Spain are doing worse. The Tories and their Lib Dem allies simply aren’t doing enough to create the apprenticeships that Britain badly needs.
This week is National Apprenticeship Week, set up by Labour when we were in government. Labour is calling on the present government to use the billions spent through public procurement to boost apprenticeship opportunities by requiring companies bidding for contracts worth over £1million to offer apprenticeships. For every £1 million spent, at least one apprenticeship could be created.
Investing in apprenticeships is an integral part of creating a new economy; one that works for everyone instead of just a few. And young people in Crawley are amongst those who stand to benefit.